In Muscogee County, where 1 in 5 deaths is linked to heart disease and 21% of residents are food insecure, access to fresh, nourishing food isn’t just a matter of health—it’s a matter of survival. Despite Georgia’s position as a national leader in fruit and vegetable production, many neighbors still face significant barriers to fresh food, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That’s where The Food Mill comes in. Located in the North Highland neighborhood of Columbus, The Food Mill is a nonprofit committed to eliminating those barriers through layered programs: Cooking Matters nutrition and education classes, a Mobile Market, a SNAP-friendly café and in-store market, a Shared Kitchen for food entrepreneurs, and the city’s first Heart Healthy Pantry launching in the fall. 

But for Shericka Huling, a local mother of four, The Food Mill offered something even more personal: a path to healing for her daughter.

“When I started this class, my daughter had just been diagnosed with diabetes. She was on insulin, but since we’ve incorporated more vegetables, smaller portions and started to pay attention to what she eats and how she eats, we were able to come off all her insulin. She’s only 13 years old. This class has helped me a lot with ways to cook healthier.”

Shericka is one of the 29 recent graduates of The Food Mill’s Cooking Matters program, a six-week nutrition and cooking course offered in partnership with Open Hand Atlanta. The program is part of The Food Mill’s layered approach to food equity—providing not just education, but also access to fresh ingredients through its other programs. Participants receive weekly produce bags to reinforce the skills they learn in class, making it easier to take those lessons home.

And Shericka did just that. Through Cooking Matters, she learned how to stretch her grocery budget, prepare balanced meals, and reinforce the importance of healthy foods to her family. 

While Cooking Matters serves as a powerful stand-alone program, it’s just one piece of The Food Mill’s broader strategy. The Heart Healthy Pantry, set to relaunch this year, will be the first in Columbus designed specifically for those at risk of or managing chronic illness. It will feature a curated selection of nutritious staples like dried beans, oats, brown rice, and fresh produce, available to nutrition-insecure households who need it most, thanks to additional support from American Heart Assocation.

Meanwhile, The Food Mill’s Mobile Market continues to grow. In 2024 alone, it sold more than 12,000 pounds of fresh produce and offered over $11,000 in discounts—including $4,600 through SNAP/EBT and another $5,800 absorbed directly by The Food Mill to keep food affordable. With regular stops at schools, clinics, and partners, the Mobile Market is bridging geographic and financial gaps in food access.

The organization also nurtures economic opportunity through its Shared Kitchen, which supports local food entrepreneurs with licensed space, mentorship, and market access. And in The Food Mill’s café, located on Second Avenue, students from Jordan High School and Truth Spring Trade School receive real-world job training in health-focused hospitality.

“Whether we’re teaching a parent how to make a healthy stir-fry, helping a high schooler learn knife skills, or supporting a farmer with retail space in our market—every piece of what we do comes back to the same goal,” says Olivia Amos, Executive Director of The Food Mill. “We want to see our community well nourished through the power of food.”

At The Food Mill, food isn’t just nourishment. It’s a tool for transformation.

Grown Close to Home: Meet Our Farm Partners

The Food Mill believes that local food helps build a stronger, healthier community. That’s why they source ingredients from trusted farms across the region—supporting the local food system and ensuring neighbors have access to the freshest products available.

Here are just a few of the farms featured in their café and market that help nourish the community:

• Bugg Farm

• Chris French Farm

• Dew Point Farm

• Four Corners Honey

• Go Greens Farm

• Jenny Jack Farm

• Jim Fuller Farm 

• MercyMed Farm 

• Pecan Point Farm

• Turntime Farm

To learn more about The Food Mill’s programs or make a tax-deductible contribution, visit thefoodmill.org. Follow The Food Mill on Facebook and Instagram.